11-20 Initiatives

Tarrant County Public Health’s (TCPH’s) North Texas Regional Laboratory (NTRL) decreased the cost of a specific HIV test by 40% by testing and adopting an alternative control test method. NTRL has received level funding for a few years while laboratory expenses have continued to grow. Achieving...

Oneida County Health Department’s (OCHD’s) QI team increased QI project submissions from staff, thus strengthening ongoing performance improvement in the agency.

By using Kaizen, Cabarrus Health Alliance (CHA) in North Carolina reduced food establishment violations by 22% and further protected residents from foodborne illness.

The Tarrant County Public Health (TCPH) Tuberculosis (TB) Division in Texas improved completion rates for latent TB infection (LTBI) treatment focusing on three targeted populations: homeless shelter residents, refugees, and people exposed to TB cases. Quality improvement of the process and a new...

Health Alert Network (HAN) messages provide vital public health information to the community’s health care providers, schools, churches, day care centers, and so on. The RiverStone Health team used a 5-day Kaizen event to improve the HAN process, create job keys, involve more staff, and decrease...

The health department improved the process for tracking data requests from internal and external partners. The interventions made the staff more aware of the tracking process and offered education on the use of the Access database. The results included greater use and an increased number of staff...

The Rhode Island Department of Health improved the timeliness of data entry for early intervention (EI) services which enhanced appropriate and prompt preventive health services and follow-up care. Delayed entry of Individual Family Service Plans (IFSPs) by outside agencies into the KIDSNET system...

Enforcement of food safety regulations plays a significant role in preventing food borne illness outbreaks. A local health department used the Lean method to increase efficiencies, standardize the process and reduce staff time and other costs for the administrative hearing process that enforces...

Denver Health used rapid cycle improvement to implement a brief tobacco cessation intervention (2As &R) in a high risk urban family planning and sexual health clinic. The intervention was enhanced by modifications to the electronic medical record system. They plan to spread this intervention...

The Sedgwick County Health Department improved the quality of the collaborative process related to communication, empowerment, and recruitment of diverse people and organizations so that individuals and organizations critical to the implementation and success of its community's health...

Because surveillance for communicable disease had been provided by the state, the Red Cliff Community health department had limited knowledge of communicable diseases in their community. They used quality improvement to bring communicable disease reporting, surveillance, control and prevention...

Compliance with required school immunizations rose after completion of a review of school immunization records was coupled with better methods of contacting parents. As a result, both children and the wider community experienced less spread of diseases.

A local health department in Washington state used QI to increase the percent of department staff who engage in physical activity as part of a worksite wellness program, learning that variety and support are critical for wellness activities to succeed.

SRHD reduced the number of water recreation facilities with violations that required re-inspection, resulting in better efficiency and reduced risk of illness and injury among community members.

Reducing childhood obesity is a priority for the Oklahoma State Health Department. Staff recognized that children returning for a second year in the afterschool CATCH Kids Club would need a new curriculum and activities to keep them engaged. The Department used QI to design new components and...

There was a lag between the time when health care providers diagnosed cases of sexually transmitted diseases and the providers notifying the health department. By improving the timeliness of the reports, the health department could quickly reach and treat contacts of the patient, thus...